Tag Archives: smoking

Ssssssmokin’

R-Rating
Sought in Some Smoking Films

LOS ANGELES � If Nicolas Cage lights a cigarette in a movie, Hollywood’s ratings
board should respond as if he used a profanity, according to authors of a new study
that criticizes glamorous images of smoking in movies rated for children under 17.

Lawmakers
Urge Smoking-Related Film Rating


Industry Resists Calls to Use Ratings to Minimize Kids’ Viewing of Cigarettes in
Movies

May 11, 2004 — Lawmakers called on the film industry to use its rating system to
warn parents of depictions of smoking in movies, amid growing evidence that the
portrayals make children an adolescents more likely to smoke.

I think this R rating for smoking idea is deliberately extreme because controversy
gets discussions going. Do I personally think that there should be advisories or
restrictions placed on movies with smoking? If we do that, we need to put advisories
up for binge drinking, promiscuous sex, and a myriad of other negative behaviors.

I think the whole ratings system needs to be revamped. Age-based ratings don’t take
into account the highly variable maturity of children and shifts parenting away
from parents. A better idea might to put codes on shows based on particular acts
shown, such as drug use, harsh language, nudity, sexual acts, etc. Let parents decide
what’s best for their children. If the MPAA doesn’t want to break down the sinful
content of movies, then a Christian ratings organization should be formed. Perhaps
rating codes could be based on which commandment is broken or which deadly sins
are displayed (pride envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth).

Up in Smoke

I, for one, whole-heartedly support the cigarette tax. I consider it a tax on stupidity. Anybody stupid enough to risk cancer, emphesema, and other nastiness and rude enough to expose others to it, deserves to pay and arm and a leg for their death-sticks. (NOTE: My grandfather died after a decade of misery that resulted directly from 50+ years of smoking. Depsite this, his sons still smoke.) If nicotine really is as addictive as smokers will say when confronted about their stupid habit (and I suspect it is), then it should be a controlled substance.

States Brace for Cigarette Backlash
By DAVID CRARY

"As state after deficit-ridden state ratchets up cigarette taxes, authorities are bracing for some unwelcome consequences in the form of more aggressive smuggling and bolder use of the Internet as a tax-evading tobacco shop."

"Never before have so many states — 17 this year alone — approved cigarette-tax hikes in such a short time. Anti-smoking advocates call it a win-win situation, enabling states to reduce smoking and budget deficits simultaneously."